Can someone recommend a good outdoor compost bin, please?

I've seen so many compost bins advertised, I'm confused as to which one to buy, especially as some of them are quite pricey. It's not that I am afraid to spend a few bucks, I just want one that really WORKS and is easy to use (I'm a senior citizen gardener.) Any help pointing me in the right direction will be much appreciated. Thanks.

Take a look through the "sticky post" at the top of the forum, & you should find a link there to pages tagged "compost bin comparison" ... if you don't find enough helpful info there, ask us! We love to offer our opinions. :)

Whether it works will depend a lot on how you manage it, as you'll find out from those threads.

Thank you, PuddlePirate, the link you gave was very helpful. Think I'll buy a couple of the Biostack bins.

You're welcome!

I worked at Brooklyn Botanic Garden for 15 years where we had an urban composting project. We set up a demo exhibit with all kinds of compost bins. The book Easy Compost available from bbg.org (and Amazon.com at a discount) is a great resource.

In our testing of compost bins, we chose the soil saver bin as our first choice. The NYC Department of Sanitation sponsored our project, part of which was to make these bins available at a discount of $20. I don't know if Charlotte has a similar program, but you might check it out.

I too am a senior and love the Bio Stack bin from Smith and Hawken. It's very easy because it breaks into three stacks and has easy access. Finally the compost crank from LoTech is a great toll for turning without breaking your back. It's much better than the aerator stick that is often sold.

Do NOT get a compost tumbler. In our experience it was the least successful and user friendly, in spite of the ads which say it makes compost in 14 days.

Good luck!

I just gave my tumbler away, it only works if you fill it in one day with a perfect mix and then it takes longer than 14 days. The instructions say that if you add to it over several weeks, like I needed to use it, it took six months. By then it was frozen solid, so it was more like a year.

I love my compost tumbler, I have had so much success with it in the last two years of owning it and we have very cold winters here...I was just out today checking it and it's broken everything down from 2 weeks ago. it still has some ways to go but I've been very, very happy with this one + it's easy for me to use with arthritis. I keep plenty of llama poop in the mix and shredded newspaper + household stuff. I turn it everyday, keep it moist...I'm happy....Deb

The question seemed to be....compost bin. Compost bins work when they are a minimum of 4ft. X 4ft. X 3ft. and turned once a week for maximum speed into heating and conversion to compost. No container is needed. Just a pile on the ground is fine. Containers may be constructed of bailed straw, wire fencing, wooden fenceing, used pallets or anything else that provides some support for three sides of the pile.

The above comments are exactly why the tumblers do not work near as well as the advertising indicates. I gave up on tumblers years ago. Until laws prevent piles on the ground I shall remain a piles on the ground composter. Even a fifty five gallon barrel is not enough volume to get good results without eternal tinkering.

I make a pile and continue to elongate it as the spring and summer progresses. By fall there is some likeness of an organized pile. At that time I turn it and make it look reasonably nice. That pile lays over winter and most years is good compost by the following spring. My best pile is one that is two full years in the making. Since I am 98% organic all my used summer pot soils get returned to an unfinished pile to help rebuild that pile and the used soil at the same time.

I agree with docgipe about the open piles. My favorite composting regime was the open pile where I could get access to the material. I loved turning the pile and seeing what was going on. And, it was easy to separate the finished compost. However, if you are in the city or in a small space, the compost bin is the most realistic way to go. The open pile can attract problems (I won't go into details). Our research in our Urban Composting project in Brooklyn indicated that the best way to get urban folks into composting was the subsidizing of bin costs. Canadian studies proved this as well. So, what type of bin is used (with the dimensions indicated above) is affected by space, conditions and use. At least that is our experience in NYC.

It was amazing to see city folks lined up to get their free compost and to purchase bins. At our last "giveback" we had over 1000 people....no commecial (not allowed). Many were new immigrants who new the value of composting. Ellen

Good louck

Ellen.............even here in this area those plastic bins (glorified barrel) are subsidized 100%. Anyone can get one by attending the Agricultural Extension Master Gardener's clases. I went and got one...........because I kept getting calls........."how do you make these bins work"?

I've had mine for the second summer as of last fall. So far unless you are very savy in the anaeorbic breakdown of organic materials they won't work. They just sit there and become home for a dandy swarm of fruit flys. It is very easy to get unballenced and go rancid. I would not suggest their use to my worst enemy. In general even with instructions lots of people don't follow any instructions and end up with an anaerobic mess. They attract critters too when sitting on the ground. I finally sat mine on a galvenized wire screen to keep out the critters. The bear have left it alone. It may be to close to the house for the bear to get interested. I'm on the edge of a 50,000 person city and 200,000 plus surburban area.

When I suggest they call the Extension office I am told they get nothing but double talk out there. No surprise to me. All they do is general easy gardening chemical company grant study results reporting. They are grant worshipers. No grant no example or test gardens. They are government shovel leaners. All classes are power point as set up by Penn State University created under grants. They may be of some value to rank beginners. They absolutely want no serious questions from experienced organic folks. Basically we have politely agreed to not occupy the same space in as much as possible.

I am a new composter, but I wanted to provide you with my experience since I have two different composters. I got a tumbling composter for Christmas, a week later, I bought a Biostack from Smith and Hawkin. The biostack has about 4 times the capacity of the tumbler. The compost in the biostack is much more broken down than in the tumbler. Most of the leaves in the tumbler are still intact, unlike the biostack. I regularly turn the biostack, and tumbler.

Based on everything that I have read, I'm attributing the difference to the larger volume of the Biostack. If I purchase another composter, it will not be a tumbler.

This message was edited Mar 30, 2009 7:59 AM

I know of no commercial tumbler that is more than a play thing. Yet they are the only legal option many folks have to work with where the powers that be have eliminated composting on the soil in a traditional manor. Certainly the common advertising promises a good bit more than the tumblers produce.

One possible alternative to excellent product production is that of setting up and using aerobic teas. Unfortunately this is not a very well known fact. The cost is more or less the same as the cost of a large tumbler. The returns biologically always work when directions are followed and good base materials are used. Making aerobic compost tea is one way to get the biological critters into the soil and working on the elements of compost which have not been composted the instant the aerobic tea is introduced. It has been said that one gallon of properly made aerobic compost tea contains as much or more live biological critters than is found in ten or more tons of raw manure.

Anyone interested in aerobic compost tea should go to North Country Organics and carefully read up on the Bobolator and how it works. It can be produced for about twenty cents a gallon. When your soils content is three percent or more the aerobic tea can go to work and biologically produce all the elements your plants need to be healthy and resist most if not all pathegons. Once your property is innoculated and building nicely your own compost can become the proper base. At first I always suggest starting with proven purchased compost tea compost and boosters as noted on the North Country Organics website.

I own the equipment you will be looking at. To CMA I want it clearly understood I have no association with any maker other than that of a one time customer.

Please do not come back here with a bunch of questions...........befor you self educate. That site is an education in itself.

I agree wholeheartedly about the biostack. I have never had any problem with an aneorbic compost bin. My experience is to put a balance of carbon and nitrogen (3 to 1) and aerate often and it works. I just save my leaves in the fall then add them as I need them. I got about 10 buckets of good compost when I emptied mine two months ago. . I expect to get the same when I empty it next week. Good luck.

Sawpalm, how often are you emptying your biostack? I completely flipped mine today, and was pleased with the texture of the compost. It looked that there is was good amount that I could harvest in the next couple of weeks. I am a little worried about rushing though. I don't know if there is any real benefit in letting it mature another few months versus using some right now.

Either way, I will be adding something beneficial to the soil. I will still be covering the compost with hardwood mulch, so the texture isn't a real issue for me.

Pennefeather, You can harvest it now or later; it just depends on what you need. If you want to plant seeds you will probably need to sift it a bit...Otherwise, you can just put it into the soil where you need it and it will continue to break down. If you are doing transplants, it will be fine or if you are using it to sidedress existing plants it will also be fine. Don't forget, many people just bury their compostables in the ground, called "in situ" compost and eventually it all breaks down.

I have a blog kirbyplant.blogspot.com that has more info and photos of harvesting compost..

Thank you sawpalm. I was thinking on this further this morning, and had come to the same conclusion. My compost consists of just leaves, and kitchen garbage, so I don't have to worry about waiting for manure to compost . I think that I am going to help myself!

I am especially eager since I put together my new leaf shredder yesterday, and filled up a 32 gallan garbage can with shredded leaves. I still have another half dozen bags to shred. I also think that I am going to move the compost from the tumbling composter into the biostack since it hasn't broken down as well. I will start again with shredded leaves in the tumbler.

The rest of the biostack compost, I will put into another can to mature further.

Let us know how it goes. Sounds like a great plan. Another blog I have which may be helpful is psumcearthgarden.blogspot.com

Ellen

Ellen,

I'm going to have to wait a while. I turned it when I got home today, and it was still hot.

I ordered two Biostack's yesterday - can't wait to get them filled. The front lawn needs mowing with all the rain we've had this past week, so I'll be able to mix the grass with leaves for some "free dirt!" in a couple of weeks.

Hi! I'n not claiming that the BioStack system is the best: just remarking on my own experience with plastic bins. Yesterday I checked on four of my five BioStack bins, which have been holding chopped leaves, garden clippings, shredded newspapers, and kitchen refuse since last November. I was able to harvest 4 trash barrels of partially-finished compost, which I will sift. Needless to say, I am feeling thrilled. Oh yes, there were two mice that had managed to burrow their way into the bins and presumably set up housekeeping--I saw their small burrows--but I was careful to fork out the compost in a gentle fashion, and they escaped, thank heavens.

If you have five bins, you must be in compost heaven!

Oh Pennefeather, you understand. I WAS in compost heaven. I wanted to jump into the lovely dirt and roll around, except I was a bit nervous about the afore-mentioned mice (one of whom was really large.)
Now that it's coming up to warmer weather, I will be out shifting my compost-bins' contents more often. But I love the fact that
"compost happens," in bins or in piles.

Well, I completely used up my compost. I couldn't help myself. I kept lugging bags of hummus and manure to one of several new beds that I am creating, and each time, I would pass the biostack. Finally, I decided, what the heck - I can always make more!

I will be emptying all my shredding leaves this weekend, and shredding a few more bags that were waiting in the wings.

I may need to get a few more composters Cape Cod Gardener. By the way HoneybeeNC, the tumbling composter is still not close to breaking down like the biostack.

I've been accumulating my BioStacks for four years--they aren't cheap, but I've gradually acquired five of them and having bins works for me. So far they are holding up perfectly in the cold New England winter. I also have a leaf-shredder and I think that using chopped leaves speeds up compost-development considerably.

Five would be quite an investment. They seem well-made enough to last for years, though. I have 2 biostacks and that works out well for me. I usually don't wait for it to be completely finished. I spread a batch a few weeks ago in which all was finished except the straw. I have another bin full in a similar state which I'll be using soon. (I was waiting for the soil to warm a little first). Straw always takes many times longer to decompose than leaves for me.

I think I actually prefer to use the compost in this state. It adds compost and a nice straw mulch at the same time. (And saves a lot of time, too, if I don't spend time screening it all).

Karen

You are all doing well. The three keys to making better soil are manure in some form which might be compost, mulching and a fall cover crop with more manure at that point if you can manage to deal with raw manures. All of the elements of good compost are found in any mulch that stays in place for the growing season. The less you disturb the soil the faster it will be able to be improved by your own biological content of your soil. Another great addition is relatively small amounts of trace minerals. Most soils do not have near a complete compliment of trace elements.

The two Biostacks arrived yesterday! Got home from work too late to assemble them, but if the weather is good this weekend, I'll be able to start at least one. I have a couple piles of shredded leaves/grass clippings ready to go, plus a lot of kitchen scraps. In all my years of gardening, these are the first composters I've owned - but this is also the first home where all I had to use for "dirt" is red clay!

Honeybee: I think you'll like the Biostacks a lot. It might take a little while to get the hang of composting when you first start, but rest assured you will. Rot happens. It's just a matter of how fast.

Karen

Well said Karen.

Karen, glad to hear that an experienced composter like yourself uses "unfinished" compost--because I do, too. (Probably out of a mixture of impatience and then laziness about screening my compost rigorously.) Like you I use my somewhat nubby compost as a mulch--in fact, I'll be spreading it around as soon as it quits raining around here. Which it's SUPPOSED to do tomorrow.
Honeybee, enjoy setting up your new Biostacks this weekend. They're very easy to assemble. One think I like about them is that you can separate the three tiers. As one Biostack full of compost rots and settles down, I remove the top tier and set it up on the ground to start another pile. The sections are always rotating.

If I don't have anything really hot in my pile, I can use it pretty much anytime, right? I have shredded paper, rabbit droppings and a few dried leaves. The rabbit droppings don't really look like droppings anymore. The paper is limp, but still paper. I took some yesterday and mixed it into the soil where I was transplanting some things, so I hope the answer is yes. Thanks.

What you have is not converted hardly at all. It is not compost. It may be used as a light mulch but should not go into any soil in which you hope to actively grow this growing season.
The real value of compost does not appear until the conversion (rotting) is complete leaving nothing that can be identified as original parts. It is the fermenting and rotting process that produces the "black gold" we speak of. If you place it into the soil befor it is converted to compost it will tie up your nutrients in various degrees until the conversions are complete.

When in the form of finished compost your soil biology can and will continue the process into humus and then humic acid. This is generally where we say the plant can now use the results of using compost.

Thanks for the information. I only transplanted a few mums yesterday, so I should be okay. I have heard that you can put rabbit droppings directly in the soil without aging or composting them. Will that also tie up the nutrients?

On the soil are the key words. Not in the soil. A smattering of any manure placed very sparcely on the soil will not cause any problems. With reservation I say no it will just lay there and rot in place. Any raw manure in the soil will tie up nutrients until it rots.

Fall applications in the soil with a cover crop gives the manure a chance to be fully converted by Spring. The soil quality will improve dramatically and be able to convert the cover crop if tilled or dug in a month ahead of planting.

You need to figure out what is your fall and spring. I have been to Houston but do not know your gardening dates.

Shuggins: When I use my compost it's usually farther along than what you describe. Generally, not much is recognizable except straw. Straw takes a long, long time to finish in my compost. But, as I said, if I mulch with it in that state, when it looks like straw mixed with soil, the remaining straw component makes a nice mulch in and of itself.

As doc pointed out, there's no problem with unfinished compost applied as mulch, as long as it's not tilled in. I believe it not only depletes N in the soil when tilled but can also spread disease if there's something like active fungal disease present in the material. As long as that stuff is composted and heated the good aerobic bacteria and fungi in composting win the battle. Some say it can even transfer immunity to that disease after composting, working as a sort of innoculant. But if it were tilled in, the bad guys can multiply in the anerobic conditions when buried. At least that's what I've read and heard.

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day here, around 60 degrees. To my compost I added UCGs that I picked up from the coffee shop, some yard waste, and straw. It was a 5 gallon bucket full of wet grounds which weighed about a ton. I brought them home then asked my husband to carry them to the compost (He's real handy to have around sometimes). I did a little more yard clean-up and planted out my first container of wintersown seedlings. It was a great day. Tomorrow winter is to return with below freezing temps at night. I'm ready for summer.

Karen

I did enjoy setting up one of the Biostacks this past weekend. I'll do the other one when I'm off from work on Friday. The weather here is hot one day and freezing the next! The leaves/grass I put in the composter have already started to settle, so the pile will need turning soon. We had some high wind yesterday, and I was amazed that the lid stayed on.

Well, it's been a month, and the first Biostack had almost finished compost. Because I needed the space for more green/brown stuff, I emptied the contents and spread it in my strawberry bed. I found it amazing how smelly stuff can turn into dark brown earth-smelling stuff in such a short time.

Honeybee, glad to hear that your compost bin is doing its thing!! You must be taking good care of it to get almost finished compost in a month. Congrats!
I'm the person who had mice in one of her Biostack bins. I found a product at my local plant store that deters mice from setting up housekeeping: little packets of strongly-scented peppermint. They're non-toxic, but apparently mice hate the smell of peppermint and depart. I've put one little envelope in each of my Biostacks.

Thanks for the tip, CapeCodGardener. I could move my bins this fall and grow peppermint around them. I have a place where I could do this without the mint taking over the yard. So far the varmints haven't tried moving into the bins, but I know they seek warm shelter during winter months.